I read an interesting piece this week about the benefits of developing a wacky and off-the-wall working environment. According to researchers, employees will be more creative and inventive in unusual work spaces because they feel a mix of positive and negative emotions. Quoted in the UK’s Metro newspaper, Dr Christina Fong of the University of Washington, said: “Managers who want to increase the creative output of their employees might benefit from following in the footsteps of companies with odd working environments.” They cite the example of Californian design consultancy IDEO, where employees apparently have bicycles hanging above their heads and the wing of a DC3 plane jutting from the wall.
Experts in organizational culture have long stressed the importance of the physical workplace. Edgar Schein talks about the three levels of culture, of which the first is ‘artifacts’ – what you see, hear and feel as you hang around. Corporate identity experts know how important the physical layout and design of the workplace can be in terms of underlining or undermining the brand. And flick through the Great Place to Work and Best Companies listings and you will discover lots of examples of organizations doing unusual and unexpected things in the workplace. There’s clearly something in this.
The physical workspace is an area few internal communicators focus on – the closest most of us get to it is being responsible for the office notice boards or plasma screen network. But it’s a hugely powerful ‘channel’ in its own right and one we ignore at our peril. Not only can funky workplaces help create the right culture and climate inside your organization, but they can also spark innovation. These benefits are far too important to be left solely to our colleagues in Facilities Management, Property or Premises.
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